Burner for liquid fuels



y 9, 1940- F. x. MANTSION 2,207,547

BURNER FOR LIQUID FU ELS Filed April 11, 1938 INVENTOR .F'rank'XlZ anfszon ATTORNEY II o Patented July 9, 1940 UNITED STATEfi mm ormcs 2Claims.

The object of the invention is to provide improvements in burners forvarious types of fluid fuels broadly, but which burners are especiallyadapted for use in the burning of liquid fuels,

5 such'as the several grades of so-called fuel oil which are widelyobtainable on the market.

A more specific object is to provide an improved construction andarrangement of bafiles, whereby the vaporized fuel is mixed with steamand then caused to pursue a tortuous path, between and against hotsurfaces, by which both an increased turbulence and a more thoroughignition is effected.

Another object is to provide an improved baflie 5 element, comprising acylindrical structure such as can be formed of a suitable metal or ofvitreous clay material, such as has been perfected for use in gasheaters and the like, said element being provided with either holes orU-shaped cutout apertures, positioned in longitudinally spaced rows, inwhich they are in turn circumferentially spaced.

A further object is to provide an improved chambered structure in whichthe liquid fuel is 2.7 more thoroughly mixed with steam, from which allparticles of water have first been removed, by means of a suitable trapinterposed in the steam line, and from which structure the carburetedfuel is diffused in general towards said baffles.

With the objects thus briefly stated, the invention comprises furtherdetails of construction and operation, such as are hereinafter fullybrought out in the following description, when read in conjunction withthe accompanying drawing, which comprises an elevational view of thepreferred embodiment of the device, shown partly in section.

Referring to the drawing, the improved burner structure is here shown inassociation with certain other elements, which are intended to beconsidered as merely illustrative of devices with which said burner isintended to be operatively associated. More particularly, the burnerstructure is here shown as being surrounded by a cylindrical wall l,which, however, is intended merely to represent the adjacent wall of afurnace or heater structure, while upon the outer side of such wallthere is in practice a more or 50 less definite volume of air, water, orother fluid, designed to be heated by fuel burned within and inassociation with said burner.

Within the confines of the wall I are positioned preferably two or moretanks 2 of any suitable size and shape and adapted to contain water,

as indicated at 3. Said tanks are connected at their upper portions bymeans of a pressureequalizing pipe 4, and also at their lower portions,by means of a similar pipe 5 to equalize the water level therein. Uponthe outer side of the wall I is positioned an auxiliary tank 6, theupper end of which is connected by a pipe 1 to the corresponding end ofone of the tanks 2, and connected at its lower end in turn by a pipe8with the lower portion of one of said first-mentioned tanks, whileleading into said auxiliary tank is a water supply pipe 9, provided uponits inner end with a float-controlled valve H! of any wellknownconstruction-the float of which rests upon the'water indicatedat II, theheight of which obviously remains the same as that of the water withinthe tanks 2. Said auxiliary tank is also preferably provided with anoutlet pipe l2 extending from its upper portion and controlled by meansof a safety or relief valve I3.

Positioned between the lower portions of' the tanks 2 is a hollowcup-shaped member l4, into which extends at any desired location aliquid fuel supply pipe l5, while said member is provided centrally withan upstanding nozzle l6, having an axial discharge bore H, the lower endof which is connected by a pipe I 8 with the upper portion of theinterior of a hollow casing l9, into one lateral side of which extendsa' steam-conducting pipe 20 from the upper portion of one of saidfirst-mentioned tanks 2. Said casing provides a steam trap and whenrelatively cool, as when the burning of the fuel is but starting, thefirst steam entering said casing by way of the pipe 20 will usually tendto condense into water and settle to the bottom of said casing, therebybeing restrained from passing from said casing through the pipe I8, intothe region above the nozzles I6 and thence into con-' tact with the fuelflowing inwardly through the supply pipe l5. Furthermore, the lower endof the pipe l8 preferably extends freely beneath the uppermost wall ofsaid casing, thereby contributing to the prevention of drops or evendroplets of water emerging from the steam trap. Obviously, after thesaid trap casing has become heated, both by the continued passage ofsteam through it and by reason of the heat radiated downwardly from thesuperimposed burner, the entering steam will not thereafter continue tobe condensed, but will pass freely through said trap casing, while waterwhich may have already condensed therein will be vaporized andeventually pass as steam from said casing until the latter again attainsdryness.

The cup-shaped member I4 is provided with any desired number of radiallyextending arms 2|, which removably support the depending cylindricalflange 22 of a cover member, which also comprises a substantiallyplanular portion 23, provided with any desired number of spacedapertures 24 and partially spanning the upper edge portions of saidflange, but at its center being provided in turn with an aperture 25,surrounded by an upwardly extending cylindrical projection 26, it beingunderstood that while only one supporting arm 2| and aperture 24 isshown in the drawing, the latter comprises only a vertical section ofthe burner members, as they are all symmetrical upon both sides of theplane upon which said section is taken.

Removably resting upon the radially outer portion of the said planularportion 23 of said last-mentioned member is an improved cylindricalbafile member 2'l,,provided with vertically or longitudinally spacedseries of apertures 28, the apertures of each series beingcircumferentially spaced with respect to one another within each seriesand the apertures of the two series being staggered with respect to oneanother. Spaced above and within a short distance of the upper edgeportion of said cylindrical bafile member is a transversely extendingbafile disc 29, the upper and lower surfaces of which are preferablyconvex and concave, respectively, and provided with one or morerestricted apertures 30, while the periphery of said disc is providedwith any desired number of radially extending arms 3|, by means of whichsaid bafile disc is detachably supported by brackets 32, or the like,carried by adjacent portions of tanks 2 or other suitable support.

Finally, positioned above and in spaced relation with respect to saiddisc baffle is a second baffle 33, which is in general disc shaped, butwhich is characterized by radially outwardly extending corrugations 34,the depth of each of which increases as it progresses from the center ofsaid last-mentioned bafile to the periphery thereof. The underside ofthis bafiie is, therefore, in general concaved and is provided with anydesired number of radially outwardly extending arms 35, which aredetachably supported by stirrups or other suitable form of brackets 36,which also may be carried by adjacent portions of the tanks 2, or byother available supporting means.

In the operation of this device, fuel entering the inlet pipe !5 andsteam entering through the nozzle l6 inter-mix with air entering betweenthe adjacent edges of the members i l and 22 within and above thecup-shaped member is and within and beneath the superimposed covermember 22-26, whereby upon proper adjustment of the mixture of steam,liquid fuel and air, the gases of combustion take several paths. Thefirst path is that through the centrally positioned upstanding extension25 of said cover member, thence partly through the bafile aperture 38,partly laterally above the bailie 21 and partly laterally through theapertures 28 in said lastmentioned baffie. Another path is in generaldownwardly through the plurality of apertures 24 from the interior ofthe apertured cylindrical baffle member 27. Thus the force of thecombined fuel and dry steam, together with the volume of the resultingcombination of gases, is so great, that a substantial portion of thegenerated heat is directed downwardly, by radiation, towards and aroundthe casing I9. The result is that the subsequent color of the flame isbest described as gas blue, identical with the result of burningilluminating gas and air in a Bunsen burner.

The combustion gases passing directly upwardly through the coverextension 28 pass partly through the disc baffle aperture 39, but to agreater degree laterally around the periphery of this baffle andeventually upwardly. The gases are further intermixed by and within thecylindrical bafile member 2! and emerge laterally through the apertures28, which in turn may comprise either circular or other form of enclosedapertures, as compared with U-shaped apertures open at their ends, as inthe form shown in the drawing. As a result of the preferably convexupper surface of the disc bafile 23 and the concave under surface of thebaffle 33, in addition to the fact that the diameter of saidlastmentioned baifie is greater than that of the lower baflle 29, thegases passing both through and around the last-mentioned baffle tend toswirl radially inwardly and still further inter-mix beneath the topbafiie 33, whence they flow radially outwardly through the corrugations34, and thence on upwardly towards the usual. stack or other outlet fromthe boiler, furnace, or other type of heater, after having been sothoroughly bufieted and churned as to effect complete combustion. Thebaffles 22 and 27 furthermore serve as means to deaden the sound whichin their absence is generated by the rush of the gases while burningunder pressure.

During the process of combustion as thus recited, it is believed to beobvious, that the heat generated by the burning fuel will be transmittedlaterally outwardly, as well as upwardly through radiation, convection,and circulation to an extremely high degree of efficiency, so that suchheat will be efficiently transmitted through the surrounding wall I, towhatever heat-conducting medium may be upon the outer side thereof. Itis also to be understood that the form of burner herein described andillustrated in the accompanying drawing involves principles of operationand construction, such that numerous changes may be made in the detailsof construction of the several parts without departing from the scope ofthe invention in its broadest conception.

If desired, a valve may be placed in the steam pipe 20 in addition tothe valve (not shown), which is always placed in the fuel supply pipel5, so that by properly adjusting the flow of steam and fuel intotheburner, the proper degree of combustion and resulting heat can beobtained as indicated by the color and character of the flame produced.A modified form of the burner particularly adapted for use in largeinstallations resides in eliminating the cover member 22-26, in whichcase the battles 29 and 33 may be lowered into closer proximity to thecupshaped member l4, upon which the cylindrical baille member 2? wouldthen rest directly, or said cylindrical baffle may instead be extendedin height to compensate for the absence of said cover member. However,in relatively small installations it has been found that the use of thecover member is preferable and insures a somewhathigher degree ofefficiency. Furthermore, by placing interchangeable nozzles of varyingdiameters in the discharge l! in well known manner, or instead a singlenozzle of variable size, a fine regulation of the type and capacity ofthe jet can be eifected, for efficiently controlling the resultingflame.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire toprotect by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A burner, comprising a cup-shaped member, means to lead liquid fuelinto said member, a conduit to lead steam into said member, a trap insaid conduit beneath said member, an inverted cup-shaped member abovesaid first member and having its adjacent edge portions spacedtherefrom, and provided with an upwardly directed aperture, asubstantially cylindrical apertured baflle surrounding said aperture, adisc bafile positioned above and in spaced relation with said firstbafile, to provide a tortuous path for gases of combustion originatingwithin and between said cup-shaped members, said disc baffle beingprovided with an aperture, so that portions of said gases can passtherethrough and other portions pass around its periphery to produce aninitial turbulence of said gases, and a second disc bafile positionedabove said first disc and provided with radially extending corrugations,so as to produce a secondary turbulence of said gases.

2. A burner, comprising a cup-shaped memher, means to lead liquid fuelinto said member, a conduit to lead steam into said member, a trap insaid conduit beneath said member, an inverted cup-shaped member abovesaid first member and havingits adjacent edge portions spaced therefrom,said inverted member being provided With a substantially centrallyextending channelled extension and surrounding apertures, asubstantially cylindrical bafile having spaced rows of relativelystaggered apertures, surrounding said channelled extension and theapertures in said inverted member, a concave disc bafiie positionedabove and in spaced relation with said first bafiie, to provide atortuous path for gases of combustion originating within and betweensaid cup-shaped members, said disc bafile being provided with anaperture, so that portions of said gases can pass there-through, andother portions pass around its periphery to produce an initialturbulence of said gases, and a second concave disc baffie positionedabove said first disc and provided with radially extending corrugationsof increasing depth outwardly, so as to produce a secondary turbulenceof said gases.

FRANK X. MANTSION.

